Building a blind on top of a boat

[FL2AK-Old Town]

Some of you may know, from other posts I've made, I'm in the processing of painting my sport boat and getting it ready for Sept. 1. You may also know I'm having some difficulty getting my head around the best form of concealment. Taking hte advice of others, I've abandoned the use stick-on vinyl camo graphics in favor of rattle can paint. I now have two issues that center on building an actual blind on top of the boat, and the actual paint scheme on the boat itself.

Building a blind. I've seen some pretty good ideas on youtube and other sites that seem to be imitations of, or a play on, the mud buddy/fast grass type blind. The commercial blinds require a boa that is wider than mine, but I've seen this link below of a guy who built something very similar out of PVC, etc. One of my questions is how to make this strong enough to support the blind while still being able to take it down, take it apart, and transport in my pick up or store it in a garage or connex. The other question is the grass material. Should I just buy the imitation Cabela's grass stuff, as noted in the video, or go out to say Palmer Flats or Minto or Tabgle Lakes (all places I plan to camp/fish this summer) and harvest tall grasses, let them dry, and hang them on the blind instead?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir0WJsbXqA8

Or something like this: http://huntduckshookfish.com/2012/03...at-duck-blind/

Paint scheme. My biggest issue with this is base coat color. I don't think I should use green, but I can't use tan if I'm going to stencil grass designs on the side. I'll need the tan for that. Brown seems to me to be too dark for the entire boat. What about just painting it one solid tan color and using the blind to do the rest? (Do I really need a multi-color pattern on the boat?) Interior floor and seats: I plan to paint those solid tan. Does anyone disagree with that?

[Lane]

What you use for a stencil will determine if you need dark or light base. That's why some instructions say hull dark color first and some will say light first.
Solid color will work fine if your brushing up. Just have to be more particular about it


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[FL2AK-Old Town]

What you use for a stencil will determine if you need dark or light base. That's why some instructions say hull dark color first and some will say light first.
Solid color will work fine if your brushing up. Just have to be more particular about it


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Well that seems to be the question of the month for me. To use a light hul color up here or not, and if so, I can't find a stencil that is designed for a light hull color.

[Erik in AK]

Well that seems to be the question of the month for me. To use a light hul color up here or not, and if so, I can't find a stencil that is designed for a light hull color.

Light hull and stencil in two colors for depth. Use both cut-out and outline stencils. So long as it's subdued the ducks won't care. Of course you could paint the boat a shiny midnight blue to match the water. Once you pile on the camo netting and grass/vegetation, hull color isn't that critical

[FL2AK-Old Town]

Light hull and stencil in two colors for depth. Use both cut-out and outline stencils. So long as it's subdued the ducks won't care. Of course you could paint the boat a shiny midnight blue to match the water. Once you pile on the camo netting and grass/vegetation, hull color isn't that critical

Hmmmm....

so...a tan hull...what are "cut out and outline" stencils?

I'm guessing a "cut out" has a shape (a cat tail for example) in the center of it, and when you paint over it, you end up with a shape of a cat tail on your background, hull color. Yes?

Outline is the reverse, such as holding up a cat tail against the boat and spraying it, giving you a cat tail of the hull color with an outline area of whatever color you sprayed. Yes?

[Erik in AK]

Hmmmm....

so...a tan hull...what are "cut out and outline" stencils?

I'm guessing a "cut out" has a shape (a cat tail for example) in the center of it, and when you paint over it, you end up with a shape of a cat tail on your background, hull color. Yes?

Outline is the reverse, such as holding up a cat tail against the boat and spraying it, giving you a cat tail of the hull color with an outline area of whatever color you sprayed. Yes?

Exactamundo.

If you're going for a more finished look then maybe a few black lines on the base coat then a mix of stencils in a light brown and a dark brown.

Also, try a few test patterns on craft paper before wasting paint on your boat.

[FL2AK-Old Town]

Exactamundo

Okay, great, thanks. Sooooo...with a light hull color (tan/marsh grass/whatever) seem to me I need to be using outline type stencils and darker colors for "shadows" so to speak?

Those HS brand camo rattle cans (and the parker brand as well, I believe) come in a "mud brown." I wonder if that will be the right color for most of it, and/or, I should toss on some black(or maybe even grey?)

[FL2AK-Old Town]

try a few test patterns on craft paper before wasting paint on your boat.

And having to remove the screw-ups from the boat! I'm already about 40 man-hours into removing the old paint from the interior.

[AK DUCKMAN]

Just how much detail do you want to put into this. If it's going to be grassed out Don't put too much time into it. If you want it to look good while you're out fishing then you're going to want 3 to 4 colors and both male and maybe a set of female stencils for the final coat. And just a heads up on stencils, if you have time you can make your own I use the blue painters tape on a piece of glass draw what you want and cut out with a sharp tip scalpel. ( what I use ) I know a boat is a lot bigger than a gun, but still the same principle
Not duck related but a little painting I did last week. I started with tan then green then the brown. all male stencils.
Good luck and most important have fun doing it. It can be a blast if you're not hurryed

[akshootnscoot]

I used old cardboard boxes to cut my marsh grass stencils... Cheap and easy! I might be able to dig up some pics? Used conduit, brackets, burlap, and dried grass to make a collapsible blind. Don't forget the birds are overhead, and will see inside the boat almost as much as outside

[akshootnscoot]

Disregard the hole in the bow, but it's the reason the pic was snapped. Long story for a different day.

The sides had more attention paid to them for the painting than the bow. It's getting a bit worn in the edges now, but the paint job is seven years old. You can see a bit of the blind in the background.

[GrassLakeRon]

Ameristep doghouse fits most boat at 60". Their outhouse blind is small. I have hunted out of both on a boat.

Ron

[akblackdawg]

Ameristep doghouse fits most boat at 60". Their outhouse blind is small. I have hunted out of both on a boat.

Ron

Ron, the outhouse blind is 60x60 square, how did it work sitting on a boat. it is certainly priced well for a boat blind, also did you have much difficulity shooting through the limited opening at birds, seems to be designed more for ground dwelling critters and opening may limit the swing on a bird and visability on birds not directly in front of the blind. Bud

[PCnAK]

Interesting Thread...

My 2 cents. I have used the commercially available plastic/mylar stencils but was just as successful using stencil cut out of poster board by my neighbors kids (their fun contribution to the duck boat as it was going together). Used rattle can flat Kyrlon. That was over a decade ago and it has held up fine. The areas needing touch up occasionally are the high wear areas inside the boat like the bench seats, etc. I feel the key is to visually "soften" the hard square edges of the boat. I have also flared my share of birds that were coming in high to the dekes or circling around and were able to look down "into" the boat, so I feel paying attention to "camoing up" the interior is important. I have much more success with birds coming in low and not being able to look down on us and to be honest I have yet to toataly figure out how to consistently pull in birds that have looked down on us. In regards to blinds, I have played around with making my own for several boats and for me I have have had the most success with the Avery Quick Set. Till I paid for making my own in time and "mistakes" I found If the budget allows it is tough to beat the Avery unit. I have modified mine over the years, and I really like it.

PCnAK

[GrassLakeRon]

Ron, the outhouse blind is 60x60 square, how did it work sitting on a boat. it is certainly priced well for a boat blind, also did you have much difficulity shooting through the limited opening at birds, seems to be designed more for ground dwelling critters and opening may limit the swing on a bird and visability on birds not directly in front of the blind. Bud

I guess it depends on your shot area. Most of my shots are in one direction at a certain distance. Beyond that I cant get to them ( 4 bore maybe). Remember, you can't see them, they can't see you. The outhouse has a large enough opening. Setup takes a couple of minutes. I have also used it in full sun as a nap area for my kids to get out of the sun. I have seen guys even use them ice fishing over a plastic pallet.

Ron